Although my mother always knitted or made clothes for the family in the 1950’s, then more out of necessity than as a craft, I curiously only became passionate about stitching as an artistic expression after attending an Embroiderers’ Guild Workshop “Drawing & Design for the Terrified” by Richard Box in Hampton Court Palace, UK in 1989. I had previously been on a Quiltour in 1988 with a British quilt historian, Dorothy Osler, with eleven visiting American quilters/writers who opened my eyes and broadened my horizons to mostly the traditional art of patchwork and quilting in the UK and over the pond.

I was fortunate In the 1990s to be earning a decent salary working 60% as a job sharing secretary in a USA Pharmaceutical company based in Zurich that enabled me to study a London City & Guilds Stitch Design diploma by correspondence. From that time onwards practically all my vacation time was spent in a variety of patchwork, machine embroidery, dye or design orientated workshops at home (Switzerland) and abroad. Basically I’m self taught apart from these workshops with so many well known creative teachers and artists. It was an exciting time sharing that buzz with so many like minded souls. I began with traditional patchwork techniques but soon moved on to free machine embroidery quilting and contemporary quilt designs.

I can best express myself with a piece produced through the unconscious with direct handwork. I use mixed media to layer memories.

Statement

Presently I “upcycle” any textile into a unique creatively stitched functional object and have gone from turning discarded designer jeans into bags, making “patchwork” yoga mat bags, mostly a variety of small scale creations for the wall and now art cushions. Apart from those I have made small articles of clothing and household articles in the Chogakpo (Pojagi in Korean patchwork) technique. Some wooden chairs have been painted shabby chic and vintage lace applied with gel. The same technique was used with a palette and wooden wine boxes for drawers to make a table and decorating the wooden frames of mirrors. Small workshops for free machine embroidery/patchwork at my home in Marbella. Now I am thrilled at the opportunity to join such a unique site as TAFA with so many diverse textile members. TAFA is a seriously motivated platform that often inspires me to plug in when I’m staggering along on low battery power.